Category_MWW Blog>The Comma

Punctuation After "Yes" and "No"

When the words after yes and no "echo" the words of the question, use a comma. ...Q Did you go with her? ...A Yes, I did. ...Q Were you the only one there? ...A No, I was not the only one t...
Category_Uncategorized

Oops, oops, oops, oops!!

I should not post important things at 3:30 in the morning when I cannot sleep. When the material inside the blurb is the whole thought, the punctuation goes inside. ...Q Where did it hit you? ...
Category_MWW Blog>General

Punctuation and Parens

When you are using parens for the insertion of a blurb -- e.g., (indicating) -- the rule is as follows: When the information inside the parens is the entire thought, it is capped, and the punctuat...
Category_Uncategorized

"Social Security" or Without the Caps

Except for "Social Security Administration," there is no need to cap "social security." It is not necessarily wrong to do so. It is just not necessary. ...received social security... ...social sec...
Category_MWW Blog>General

"Everyday" or "Every Day"?

As one word, everyday comes in front of a noun and means "ordinary," "routine," "habitual," or "commonplace." Otherwise, it is every day. ...It is an everyday job. ...She had those everyday tasks ...
Category_MWW Blog>General

"You Had to Be There" and the Word "Again"

There are some words that you just have to hear in context to know the correct punctuation. Such is the case with the word again. If the word again begins a sentence, it is a conjunctive adverb, ...
Category_MWW Blog>General

A Dash or a Hyphen?

Just a quick note to get some terminology cleared up: The dash in formal English is a long mark, called the "em" dash, that is flush against the word on either side. In court reporting, back in th...
Category_MWW Blog>Numbers

Words in the Middle of the Year

When a year is interrupted by a word or two, the English rule says to write out the number in words. That is always the fallback position. However, as always in reporting, numbers written in words ...
Category_MWW Blog>Numbers

Sequential References

A sequential reference is a number that is part of a series of numbers, which usually follows the word that designates what the number is referring to. We consider a number to be "sequential" when ...